


are there still beautiful things?

by Nazezdha321



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Implied/Referenced Non-Consensual Kissing, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, not sure if the violence is graphic but I'll tag it anyway, rivals au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25659694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nazezdha321/pseuds/Nazezdha321
Summary: "Ask anyone you like in New York City and they would tell you that the Cavalry was a villain. She beat people halfway to death seemingly at random and then disappeared. She couldn’t even be caught by Pathos, the city’s resident superhero with a talent for talking people down instead of fighting them.But if you asked the girls that had been saved by the Cavalry, they wouldn’t tell you anything. To those girls, the girls she begged not to talk about her, the girls who hugged her and cried on her shoulders, the girls who were shaking and terrified and angry and violated, the Cavalry was a hero."
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Melinda May, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Comments: 26
Kudos: 74
Collections: AOS AU August 2020





	are there still beautiful things?

**Author's Note:**

> This is Day 1 of my AOS AU August 2020 fics, a Rivals AU! And me being me, I've chosen to create this dark superhero (or vigilante, take your pick) Philinda AU. 
> 
> A million thank yous to Sanctuaria, who had to beta this thing because I wrote in two different tenses like the idiot I am. You are a lifesaver!! 
> 
> Trigger Warnings are in the tags. 
> 
> Title from folklore because that's what we're all listening to anyway. 
> 
> Enjoy <3

Melinda’s fists hit the punching bag over and over, a rhythm like water trickling over rocks as memories ran like a river through her head. At this rate, she’d have an ocean before the workout was over. 

The gym instructors and manager knew better than to interrupt the tiny little Asian woman in the corner. So did the regulars. The new kids stared at her with wide, awe-inspired eyes but looked away hastily when she glared. 

She wanted to be left alone. 

It was her mother that taught her how to fight. Her fists were her tools - it was her entire body that was the weapon. 

It was her old friend who would give her a reason to. Kidnapped as a child, wounds cut too deep until she was a shell of a person, burned and bruised and battered. Just thinking of Natasha’s pain made Melinda’s vision go red with anger. And the knowledge that more women were out there, suffering… 

That was what led Melinda to take up the mask. It was simple - covering her face nose-down in black cloth tucked neatly into the collar of her black hoodie and kept up on her face by elastic around the edge. Paired with the hood - a few tiny weights sewn neatly into the hem so that it didn’t obscure her vision yet still put shadows over her eyes - and a long, metal staff, Melinda became her alter ego. 

She became the Cavalry. 

Ask anyone you like in New York City and they would tell you that the Cavalry was a villain. She beat people halfway to death seemingly at random and then disappeared. She couldn’t even be caught by Pathos, the city’s resident superhero with a talent for talking people down instead of fighting them (not to say he didn’t carry around one of the most advanced guns that Melinda had ever seen). 

But if you asked the girls that had been saved by the Cavalry, they wouldn’t tell you anything. To those girls, the girls she begged not to talk about her, the girls who hugged her and cried on her shoulders, the girls who were shaking and terrified and angry and violated, the Cavalry was a hero. 

The police thought they didn’t say anything because they were afraid. Because maybe the Cavalry had threatened them, or maybe they were too traumatized by what they’d seen that they wouldn’t speak. 

In truth, they didn’t say a word out of gratitude. The Cavalry saved them. If the only thing they could do to thank her was refuse to give Pathos, the NYPD, and the mayor anything that could help them track her down, then that was what they would do. 

**\- - -**

Phil got a call about a potential Cavalry sighting about halfway through his lunch with the police chief, Robert Gonzalez. Gonzalez had begrudgingly agreed to allow Phil - to allow Pathos - to assist the NYPD in the hunt for the Cavalry. Now, it had evolved to where he was pretty much the protector of the city. 

Unlike the Cavalry. 

Even the name just made Phil angry. He couldn’t call her a vigilante because she didn’t seem to be attempting to get justice - or revenge. By default, she was a criminal, and the fact that she was leaving bodies in her wake made him even angrier. Most of the time, it was a man laying beaten half to death in an alley with only one or two witnesses. Witnesses who refused to talk. Gonzalez thought it was trauma, and maybe it was, but Phil figured that someone would have said something by now. Trauma affects people in different ways, after all. More likely, they were afraid. More likely, they had been threatened. 

It made the Cavalry dangerous. 

And it was Phil’s job to catch dangerous people. 

“Talk to me,” he said, resting his phone in between his shoulder and his ear as he started his car. 

“2nd and Claremont,” Daisy, his girl in the chair, reported. “Someone called 911 to report a short woman beating up a guy with a stick. No security cameras over there, per usual. Police advised the caller to get as far away from the scene as possible, though before they left, they mentioned a young girl was there in addition to the man being attacked.” 

“I’m guessing we have no motive?” 

“No motive,” Daisy confirmed. 

“Hmm,” Phil murmured. 

The Cavalry was illegal. She had almost killed a lot of people, and her actions led to the death of a young girl a few years ago. Phil - Pathos - also wore a mask, but he worked with the mayor, the police department, emergency services, and whoever else to get criminals off the streets. He didn’t just beat people up, he sent them to prison, or he sent them to therapy, or he got them medication or money or food. Pathos was far from the masked villain running around his city. 

He was a hero. 

**\- - -**

Melinda’s staff was covered in blood by the time she stepped away from the thirty-five-year-old man who just tried to force his tongue down the seventeen-year-old girl’s throat. He was lucky that Melinda let him keep it - she almost didn’t. But the girl to her left was petrified, and the man looked very, very dead. Melinda didn’t want to do anything else to traumatize her. Besides, Pathos was probably on his way now - she knew someone saw her and called 911 a few minutes ago - and she had to leave. 

Despite what he’d claimed on the news, Pathos had never really come face-to-face with the Cavalry. Sure, he’d seen her running into the night, seen pictures of her when she couldn’t avoid security cameras, and twice, he’d caught her watching over the city from the rooftops. Both times she jumped off, slipping away as he looked over the side of buildings in shock, wondering what had happened to her. 

“Y-y-you killed him!” cried the girl, shaking as the blood splattered across her face and in her hair, staring at the body the Cavalry stood over. 

“Nearly. He’s alive,” Melinda said, her voice changer on so that the girl or anyone nearby couldn’t use an audio recording device and figure out her voice to try to track her down. 

The girl stared at Melinda. “You _saved_ me. But…” 

“What’s your name?” Melinda asked softly. She stepped toward the girl, dropping her staff and raising her hands in a calming gesture. She didn’t want to come across as threatening - this kid had seen enough tonight. 

“Tess.” 

“Tess, I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone what you saw here tonight,” Melinda said. Tess blinked. “Please.” 

“But they call you a villain! And you just saved me! You’re not - ” Tess began to protest. She stopped, her eyes looking directly into Melinda’s. “ _Why?”_

“Why should you promise me, or why did I save you?” 

“Both.” 

Melinda wiped the blood and tears off of Tess’ cheek with her sleeve, carefully not to leave fingerprints (her normal gloves were cut up last time, so she had to wear her fingerless ones tonight). They mixed and smeared across her face, giving the illusion of injury. A medical professional - or anyone who looked close enough - would be able to tell that she’s physically unharmed. That wouldn’t be what Pathos and the NYPD looked at. They would see the blood and assume what they always did: that the Cavalry was a villain. 

“Women should not have to be afraid,” Melinda told her. 

“Cavalry!” shouted an abnormally deep voice. “Get away from the girl!” Melinda swore under her breath. The only other person in the city who used a voice changer was Pathos. She’d stayed too long, and now this damn superhero was here. 

“Promise me!” Melinda hissed, grabbing her staff. 

“I-I promise,” Tess replied. 

“Get. Away. From the girl,” Pathos repeated, his voice almost a growl now. Melinda could feel his gun on her. 

Melinda leaped into the air, her staff acting as a pole as she jumped, expertly wielded to allow her to get high enough to land on top of the street lamp providing dim light to the alley where the man’s battered body laid, and Tess watched them both. Pathos was below her, his gun raised into the air, and aimed a little too far to the left. 

“Surrender now,” he began. “And - ”

She didn’t wait for him to finish before she smashed the street lamp with her fists and jumped, disappearing into the night. 

**\- - -**

“Please,” Phil begged the girl. “I just need to know what she said to you. So I can stop her. So she won’t hurt anyone else ever again.” 

Two ambulances and several squad cars arrived a few minutes after the Cavalry’s impressive departure. One of the ambulances immediately rushed the man - identity unknown, but Daisy was on the case - to the nearest hospital. The second was treating the young girl, whose name was Tess. 

She shook her head. She didn’t look scared. She looked defiant. 

“Mr. Pathos, I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from questioning my patient until she is medically cleared for interrogation,” interrupted the EMT, glaring pointedly at Phil as she wiped blood flecks from Tess’ forehead. 

Phil nodded and walked away. “Skye, do we have anything?” he muttered into his comms. 

“Nothing,” Daisy sighed. “I love my codename, though.” 

“You came up with it.” 

“And it’s _awesome_.” 

“Focus on the mission, please,” Phil told her. 

“Sorry. Umm… looks like our victim is thirty-five-year-old John Garrett. He’s a millionaire from Indiana. Nothing on his record, but the guy just _looks_ creepy. Maybe that’s why she went after him?” Daisy theorized. 

“There’s something at play here that we don’t understand,” Phil sighed. “Something that connects all of her victims.” 

“Probably, but I can’t find anything.” 

“What about Tess?” 

“An orphan. She hits up a local bar a lot, I think she’s friends with the band that plays there, the Deke Squad. Never been arrested, but she dropped out of high school. Need I go on?” 

“No similarities or known connections to other victims or witnesses?” 

“Nope.” 

Phil sighed again. Whoever the Cavalry was, she was good. Good enough that he wasn’t sure he could catch her. 

**\- - -**

Melinda unlocked the door to her best friend’s apartment, and as soon as she walked in, it felt like home. She had run to her apartment for a quick shower after her run-in with Pathos, and even though it was late, she knew Phil would be up. She was a little shaken that she had cut it so close with the hero. Not that she could explain that to Phil. 

“Hey,” he greeted her as she walked into the living room. He was watching a movie, one of their old favorites called _V for Vendetta._ “How was your day?” 

Melinda shrugged and sat beside him on the couch. “Tough. You?” 

“Filing police reports isn’t that bad. But,” Phil added excitedly, “Pathos ran into the Cavalry today. He said he saw her almost hurt this kid before he stopped her.” 

Melinda frowned. Pathos again. Phil was obsessed with superheroes. This probably wasn’t the place to come if she wanted to get away from the events of tonight. As much as she wanted to correct that the Cavalry had _saved_ Tess, she tried to keep her tone light as she asked, “Oh?” 

“I mean, you’ve seen the drawings and the hazy security camera photos, but apparently she’s pretty small in real life. Tiny and vicious. Almost ripped out this guy’s tongue.” 

_Because he deserved it!_ Melinda wanted to shout. Her voice was much harder this time, her mouth drawing into a thin line. “Why’d she do that?” 

Phil shrugged. “She’s a villain, Mel. Who knows why?” 

“Are you sure?” Melinda asked, and she regretted it as soon as she said it. 

Phil paused the movie and turned to her. “What do you mean?” 

“Are you sure she’s a villain, Phil? This Pathos guy seems pretty sketchy to me. If he’s working with the mayor and the police, why not just come out and say who he is?” 

“I don’t know. Protect the people he cares about? Become less of a person and more of an idea, like V?” Phil asked, gesturing to the television. 

“Then why isn’t he considered a vigilante? Even if he does work with the authorities, he does technically take the law into his own hands, just like the Cavalry.” 

“Well, - ” 

“And what’s up with the name ‘Pathos’? At least we know what ‘the Cavalry’ means. Well, what it means to us. I guess what it means to her is more important,” Melinda paused for a second. “But at least we can guess where she’s coming from! Pathos, nobody even knows!” 

“I do!” 

“Yeah, but you’re practically in love with him,” she said, exasperated. 

“It’s actually pretty cool,” Phil muttered. “It comes from a word that means both ‘passion’ and ‘suffering’ in Ancient Greek. If that isn’t relatable enough for you - ” 

“So Pathos is a language nerd,” Melinda summarized. Phil glared at her. She sighed. This had gone too far, and they both knew it. 

“Let’s just watch the movie,” Phil said. 

They sat in silence. 

**\- - -**

When Phil woke up the next morning, Melinda was gone. He wished she had stayed so they could talk it out, but he knew that wasn’t her style. She was probably headed to the dojo where she volunteer-taught self-defense classes if she wasn’t there already. 

But something she had said had him thinking. 

_Are you sure she’s a villain, Phil?_

_He does take the law into his own hands, just like the Cavalry._

_What it means to her is more important._

_At least we can guess where she’s coming from._

And none of the witnesses said anything - 

_The Cavalry. A source of help in an emergency, especially as a last resort. The backup. The hope when all is lost. The light shining in the darkness._

The Cavalry wasn’t a villain. 

She had _never been_ the villain. 

The witnesses refused to talk to her because they didn’t want to villainize her or give her away, but she made them promise not to tell anyone about her rescues. The people she beat up, the people she nearly killed weren’t the victims, they were the villains, which meant - 

_The Cavalry is a hero._

Phil grabbed his phone and dialed Daisy’s number. She didn’t answer. 

Phil called the mayor. 

He picked up on the first ring. 

“Mayor Fury, we’ve been going about this all wrong. The Cavalry isn’t a villain…” 

**\- - -**

Melinda was in the middle of her self-defense class when a young girl walked in. She looked familiar, though Melinda couldn’t tell why. She wasn’t someone the Cavalry had rescued, unlike several of the women in this class. She had short brown hair, and she was of Asian descent. She was wearing a leather jacket similar to Melinda’s. Her makeup was smudged beneath her eyes, and her hair almost obscured her eyes from view. 

She walked over to an open spot next to Bobbi, one of Melinda’s best students, and began working on her tai chi poses like everyone else. 

“What’s your name?” Melinda asked quietly, so as not to distract everyone else. 

“I’m Daisy.” 

“Melinda. Bobbi, would you mind pairing up with Daisy for this class to teach her some of our basic poses?” 

**\- - -**

After class, Melinda went to find her new student. 

“Daisy?” Melinda asked. 

“Yeah?” 

“Why did you decide to take this class?” 

Daisy said, “Why do you want to know?” 

“I ask all of my students,” Melinda replied. “Maria, for example. Her friend nearly died after an attack. She doesn’t want that to happen to her. Whereas Bobbi… Bobbi’s that friend. Jemma’s been kidnapped a few times. Robin’s mother is scared any number of things might happen to her. The reasons vary. What’s yours?” 

Daisy didn’t meet Melinda’s eyes as she replied, “It’s good to know.” 

“It is,” Melinda agreed. “Especially if you’re in trouble.” 

Daisy bit her lip. 

“I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Melinda said softly. “It’s just me.” 

“An ex,” Daisy confessed after a minute of silence. “He doesn’t handle rejection well. I’m worried he might come after me.” 

Melinda nodded understandingly. “And you want to be able to defend yourself if he does.” 

“Yeah.” Daisy glanced at her curiously. “Why do you teach this class?” 

Melinda’s lips hinted at a bitter smile. “Women should never have to be afraid.” 

**\- - -**

Phil got an incoming call from Daisy as soon as he finished telling Mayor Fury and Chief Gonzalez everything. They both agreed that his suspicions were most likely correct. 

“I’ve figured out the Cavalry,” Phil told her breathlessly as soon as he pressed the green button. 

“Go,” Daisy said, and Phil could hear the click of keys on her laptop as soon as she started checking out both victims and witnesses. “Get this: almost ninety-five percent of the people that the Cavalry sent to the hospital have been turned into the police department or having willingly turned themselves in for attempted sexual assault or some form of sexual assault, including rape. The ones that haven’t have either skipped town, been going to some form of therapy or have been re-admitted to the hospital with similar wounds as they had before.” 

“She was right,” Phil muttered. 

“Who?” 

“A friend of mine. She’s the one who got me thinking about this.” 

“Is that the friend who you’re in love with?” 

“Daisy.” 

“I’m just asking!” 

“... yes. Her name is Melinda.” 

Daisy paused. Phil tapped his comms. “Daisy?” 

“Melinda? Does she teach self-defense classes?” 

“How’d you know?” Phil asked, confused. 

“Because I went to one of her classes. Do you have that audiotape of the Cavalry that you got from Tess and Garrett’s case the other night?” Daisy asked. “Nevermind. I have it here. Listen.” 

“...both,” said a voice he recognized as Tess. There was a few seconds before the Cavalry replied, 

_“Women should not have to be afraid.”_

“Phil, I think your friend knows more about the Cavalry than she’s letting on,” Daisy said. 

“Why?” 

“Because those are the exact words she used when I asked her why she taught those classes.” 

**\- - -**

Melinda was saved by the Cavalry. 

It all made sense now, Phil thought. Why she thought the Cavalry isn’t a villain, why she taught self-defense classes. Why she was so traumatized a few years ago, after the death of that young girl that the Cavalry was connected to. She must have been saved that night, right before that little girl died. 

But who would do that - who would try to do that, Phil corrected, because the Cavalry had stopped them - to Melinda? 

Phil’s fists clenched, then he realized what he was doing. He couldn’t fight whoever the Cavalry fought. The past was in the past - and he’d get to that eventually, but now wasn’t the time. Right now, he needed to know what his best friend knew about the Cavalry. He owed the villain - the hero - thanks, and he owed the city an explanation. The sooner he tracked her down, the sooner he could give them both what he owed them, and the sooner he could tell Melinda everything.

“Mel?” he asked as he walked into her apartment. 

“In the kitchen!” she called. 

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said as he walked to her kitchen. She was an awful cook - Phil had fond memories of ovens on fire - and so she was heating leftover Chinese food from their favorite restaurant. 

“Me too,” she replied, taking the plate out of the microwave. “That all you come here to say?”

“I know about the Cavalry,” he said quietly. 

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, her expression shocked. She set down the food on the counter, biting her lip. Finally, she said, “Phil, I promise I was going to tell you, but you loved Pathos so much and the Cavalry is a villain and I just - I promise, everything I’ve done… I did it for a reason, okay?” 

“Everything _you’ve_ done?” Phil asked. “I thought… that night, I thought she saved you.” 

Melinda’s eyes grew wide. “Damn,” she whispered. 

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Wait, _you’re_ the Cavalry? All those people - ” 

“Deserved it,” Melinda interrupted. “They were - ” 

“I know what they were!” Phil shouted. “But Melinda, you almost _killed_ them! You could have just reported them or - ” 

“The justice system is failing, Phil!” Melinda cried, and Phil couldn’t believe this was happening. It was almost comical. He was Pathos, a goddamn _superhero_ , and his archnemesis - who turned out to not be such a villain after all - happened to be his best friend who he was also in love with. This was _insane._

Melinda’s mouth dropped open. 

Phil said that out loud. 

“ _You_ _what?_ ” she yelled. 

Phil wasn’t sure what part of it she was yelling at, but at this point, it didn’t matter. His phone buzzed from his back pocket, and at the same time, so did Melinda’s. They both glared at one another. Phil yanked his phone out of his back pocket. Melinda did the same. 

Daisy’s panic button had just gone off. 

From the look on Melinda’s face, she knew exactly what was happening. Phil didn’t have time to ask _how._ How she had Daisy’s panic button alert, how she suddenly cared so much about Daisy after just meeting her… 

“Grab your staff,” he said. “I’m still mad about this, but we have to go get Daisy.” 

“We?” she asked. 

“Pathos,” Phil replied, “and the Cavalry.” 

**\- - -**

“Leave me alone!” Daisy shouted at the figure behind her. “I’m serious!” 

“Like you were about _us?_ ” Grant hissed, walking closer. He was close enough that she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She could see the veins pulsing in his neck, his fists clenching and unclenching as he stalked toward her. 

Daisy grabbed her pepper spray, but he knocked it out of her hand, and he _smiled._

She screamed, but Grant put his hand over her mouth. She bit him, but he didn’t seem to care, and his salty blood filled her mouth, choking her as she tried to spit it out. She raised her other fist - _Everyone watches your hands, especially if they’re fists. Use them to distract your attacker. Then use your knees,_ Melinda had said - and Grant took the bait. Daisy slammed her right knee as hard as she could into his leg because that was the only place she could reach. He shouted in pain and tumbled backward and Daisy ran and screamed - _Make as much noise as you can_ \- her bile rising in her throat. 

A force slammed her to the ground, and Daisy instinctively covered her head and curled into a ball. He kicked her back, his foot connecting with her spine, and it _hurt._

“Get away from her!” 

She felt the vibrations in the Earth as Grant fell behind her. 

Daisy looked up. 

_The Cavalry._

_Phil._

They came for her. 

They came to save her. 

“Take her!” the Cavalry shouted. “I have him!” 

Phil - Pathos - nodded, and scooped her up in his arms. “You’re okay, Daisy.” 

“My back,” Daisy coughed. 

Phil nodded. “I know, I know.” 

“The Cavalry - she’ll hurt him.” 

Phil’s eyes darkened with anger, and just for a second, Daisy was _afraid of him._ The feeling passed, but it left her feeling more sick to her stomach than she already was. “Not sure if that’s a bad thing. Come on.” 

“You,” Daisy rasped. “You know her.” 

“Yeah,” Phil agreed. “Melinda wasn’t saved by the Cavalry. She is the Cavalry.” 

Daisy would have laughed at the irony if she didn’t feel like death. 

The city looked like a painting in front of her, the way the rain hit the pavement like brushstrokes, the way the dark colors were litten up by the street lights and neon signs, the way the whole world stretched out like a portrait instead of reality.

_Stay with me, Daisy._

She was so _stupid,_ so stupid for getting in trouble like this, and now Melinda would get hurt, or worse, she’d hurt Grant, and she’d be the one in trouble. And Phil… Daisy was in his girl in the chair. She was the one watching over him. Like the sky. She had been so stupid and now Phil and Melinda were going to pay the price. 

_Stay with me, Daisy._

But they came for her. She had hoped that someone, anyone would come for her when she called, and they had come. She called, and they came. Not Jiaying or Cal or anyone who had promised to come for her when she called. Phil and Melinda. 

_Stay with me, Daisy._

Daisy saw the familiar blue and red lights in the darkness, and Pathos’ voice with Phil’s as he told her to _stay with me, Daisy,_ but the sirens and the lights and Phil disappeared as everything went black. 

**\- - -**

“Take care of her!” Phil called to the paramedics as they loaded Daisy onto a stretcher. One of them - the same one that had treated Tess - must have sensed the desperation in his tone, because she laid a hand on his armored shoulder. 

“It’s what we do.” 

“If you’ve got her, where’s the ex-boyfriend?” asked Fitz, the best forensic scientist on the NYPD. 

“I left him with the Cavalry,” Phil explained. 

Officer Mackenzie’s - better known to most as Mack - mouth dropped open. “You know the Cavalry?” 

“Well, I met her a few minutes ago. It’s complicated,” Phil sighed. “We’d better get to him before she really hurts him.” Mack nodded, and several police officers followed Phil to the darkened walkway between buildings where Phil had left Melinda with Grant. 

“Cavalry!” Mack shouted. Before Phil could stop him and explain the situation, every officer had a gun pointed at Melinda’s head. 

Melinda stood over Grant’s unmoving body, her staff by her side as she slid down her hood and raised her hands in the air. She turned around slowly, facing Phil and the officers with guns pointed at her head, with Mayor Fury behind them. She pulled off her mask. 

“I surrender,” she said softly, so quietly that Phil wondered if he had even heard it. 

He must have because Mack and his team approached her and Grant. 

“He’s dead,” Fitz pronounced, kneeling beside the body.

“You have the right to remain silent,” began Mack as he placed handcuffs around Melinda’s wrists.

Phil could only watch. 

**\- - -**

“So you’re officially a vigilante, then?” Phil asked her through the glass. Melinda smiled at her best friend - now boyfriend. She wished she could smash the glass barrier that separated them, but it wasn’t worth it. She would lose the ability to speak to Phil, and then where would she be? 

She just wanted to hold his hand, one more time. 

“I am,” she confirmed. “Daisy said she’s contacting everyone from my class and any of the people I’ve saved, trying to get them to testify. She feels guilty about what I did to Ward. She thinks it’s her fault.” 

“It’s not,” Phil said. “It’s not yours either.” 

Melinda raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay, it’s kind of your fault, but you did it out of love,” he replied. 

Melinda shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Love or not, I’m still going to go to prison. Probably spend a lot of time here, with all the guys I beat up. No lawsuits, though. I guess I scare them too much.” 

“You could break out if you wanted to,” Phil suggested, and Melinda laughed. 

“I could,” she agreed. “But I won’t.” 

Phil smiled. “Yeah, I know.” 

They stared at each other in silence, just watching the light in each other’s eyes. Melinda didn’t regret what she did to Daisy’s ex - if that made her a bad person, so be it, but then, she had never really been a hero. She wasn’t a villain either, not according to Phil, and he was pretty much the expert on these things. 

She could get used to vigilante, though. 

“Your time’s up,” said one of the guards. He was one of the only ones who was nice to her. It was because he had a daughter. Melinda had signed an autograph for her. 

She pressed her hand on the glass and Phil mirrored her. 

If there was one thing she had learned, it was that not everything was black and white. 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, a huge thank you to Sanctuaria for her beta-ing, and to aosficnet2.0 for hosting this event! I'm so excited! As always, please leave kudos/comments if you feel this merits them. I appreciate any and all feedback and validation you can give me <3 
> 
> Cheers!


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